Boundary Labyrinth and the Foreign Magician

The room was quiet with magical lights floating in it.

Nine children for men and women. Age is not right...... I have an old book in my hand. There are cluttered stacks of books on the floor. From the title they are technical books, dictionaries, etc. I don't even have a small number of people because I concentrate on reading each.

"Reading, is it?"

Oldia blinks when I inform her of the situation through Valor.

"I wonder if it's something that's driven by necessity. Looks like handmade clothes and shoes."

Where has the book been secured from? Was it left in a surveillance facility or in a nearby settlement site...... Though there are many possibilities.

Considering the knowledge gained from such books, would the boys' outfits benefit from it to be translated?... such as piercing clothes, which are made of beast fur and tightened with rough rope, etc. Seems handmade, but not decorative at all, and practicable.

Although it cannot be considered superior for sartorial purposes, traces of processing have been observed according to a considerable number of procedures. Some of the demons that were dumped on the cliff were furrowed.

If you are a demon... would that be enough for cold protection?

The shoes are also placed in the corner of the room, but this could be for outings. This one looks handmade too. Carving trees and processing leather is not the same material, but the fur seems to be stretched to cover the inside and around the ankle.

Do you want tools for processing? If you harden your temper, you won't be able to replace knives and tools.

'Is this the number of people we all have?

"I don't know yet. Some of them might be out there, and they might be in the other room. I guess we need to explore and observe a little more. I think the senses are quite sharp, so I just want to be careful."

Answer Grace's words.

"... the demons of the second generation and beyond tend to be less conscious of their families and compatriots. It could be as many children in one family at a time."

Osgrave speaks of speculation.

Overall, the number of demon children in the underworld is not so high.

As each family member, they also seem to decide to protect the children they hold from danger, but whether or not to value the area changes somewhat even if the first generation is the head of the family.

Given the number of demons assembled at Vallos' place, it's not strange to divide it by family or to have more children... but that's a story if you're human.

The demons have no life span. Some demons wear out their spirits and seek a place to die, so when it comes to life expectancy, maybe so.

In any case, it is well understood that the combatants of the clan, the total of all generations, are small in absolute numbers of demons considering that size.

You're just like a creature at the top of an ecosystem doesn't make a lot of kids. Because he has the ability to deviate with longevity, perhaps it is a story that demons can tell that the need to raise their children is weak.

The number of children was still considerably smaller compared to the size of the settlement, although there were many more established as a family because the hiding places in Osgrave always live in the same place. They also had the intention of not wanting to increase the scale of the hiding place too much, though those backgrounds seemed long and short for the hiding place.

While Cadkeus is watching the demons, Osgrave's manipulative seekers are also searching inside the facility in turn from the top.

The general room only had decaying furniture, but some of them had work rooms that would have had fur and leather smoothing... traces of life were seen. Because they are demons, they are slightly biased towards the smell of life.

In that, the Seeker finds something strange.

"This is-"

Someone leaks their voice. Everyone in the bridge and communications room gets a look of surprise and confusion.

A statue with a crystal-like texture was there. It's a statue of a woman dressed like a hand sticking out in front of her, screaming something with a rugged look. Something - something like a pile - pierces the flank.

The tip of the pile is like a crystal, similar to the statue of a woman, but has degenerated into a rocky texture from the middle of nowhere. Where pile-like objects have been stabbed, crystals grow to flourish, and they also appear to be winds such as traces spread while eroding.

"You don't think it's just a statue..."

Elena frowned and said.

"Petrified... no, crystallized, I guess, this is"

Is it another different form of petrification than the petrification of Cardia or the slow poisoning of the basilisk of the Diabolos?

The decaying furniture, etc. that would have been in the room with the statue, has been brought out into the hallway, and it is firmer to assume that it was brought in here later, rather than what was originally in the surveillance facility, as inferred from the area.

In that regard, this figure may be a special positioning for the demons downstairs.

I don't even know what kind of thoughts and emotions you're pointing at in relation to.

There is no doubt that newborn babies are lacking in emotion, but they often build strength by eating through battle and hunting, and grow in emotion with it.

Well...... I can't help feeling like a demon.

Though it did not seem comforting to Esnatura, as there are many cases of growing up being emotionless, interested in fighting, or having a brutal personality.

And the behavior of the chiefs of the clan as the mighty ones... is it necessary to make them obey such demons?

"This is what happened when you engaged with something, or something?

"I can think of a demon, and it's possible that the demons broke up with each other."

To Sheila's words, Claudia also says as she conceives.

"Surely in either case, this leads to the demons moving the surveillance facility to Negijo to confirm the rendezvous point."

And, Osgrave closes his eyes.

"Assuming it's relevant... you think something unforeseen is happening to the defense personnel your family left behind and waiting for the adults to come back? If you don't know when to meet, or if you didn't show up at the right time, you'll have to go through it some time and again to see how it goes."

The season is winter, and there is no way to wait all the time near the meeting place.

In living in a base like this, I am driven and knowledgeable by need, he said. Or... are you moving to help your crystallized companions? If you don't feel the need, you won't bother to bring it into base.

So... what's the reason? Even if it was not benevolence or favor, but only rational judgment, because if we succeed in de-crystallizing it, we have the information we need?

The process is unclear, and it's hard to know what their sensibilities, their way of thinking are, so it's hard to anticipate some behavioral principles.

As he circles the idea, Tiers sounds a warning as he looks at the monitor.

Two people - the boys could be seen flying from the direction of the street towards the surveillance facility. He's skinny and small, but he has a slightly older vibe than the people in the facility right now. The sophistication of the flying technique is a medium one.

On your back... you're carrying a bag made of fur. Does that mean you brought back any supplies?

While carefully expanding the cover-up field, I was following the motion in case there was no contact, but I opened the main entrance from the entrance on the ground floor and entered the facility, not from the rooftop where I was.

There was movement, looks good to see. We'll have some conversation about the boy's return, so we might be able to grasp some of the circumstances.